Quebec designates 34 new protected areas in the eastern and northern parts of the province - Action News
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Montreal

Quebec designates 34 new protected areas in the eastern and northern parts of the province

The provincial government had pledged to protect 17 per cent of Quebec's territory from eventual development before 2020 was out. That target was reached this week. Conservationists say it's progress, but more must be done.

Province hits target of protecting 17% of its territory from development

The coast of Anticosti Island has been designated as protected area by the Quebec government. It's possible the entire island will become a protected zone soon. (Martin Toulgoat/Radio-Canada)

The provincial government's stated targetwas to protect 17 per cent of its land and maritime territory by the end of 2020, and this week it reached that goalby designating 34 new protected areas.

They include parts of the Lower North Shore, the coasts of Anticosti islandand a section of the Moisie River, north of Sept-les.

Other locales on the list that will be permanently off-limits for development: the Caribous-Forestiers-de-Manouane-Manicouagan wildlife area (north of the Manicouagan hydro reservoir), Matinipi Lake, Blanc-Sablon and Harrington Harbour.

The new designations, which will be codified in law in early 2021, cover12,600 square kilometres. About 275,000 square kilometres of Quebec land is now protected. The conservation target was set in part to abide by international agreements.

For Anticosti in particular, the moverepresents a major step forward in the view of Environment Minister Benoit Charette.

He said the island, which waseyed for oil and gas development earlier this decade, could be protectedin its entirety in the coming weeks.

Flowing water in a river nestled between rocks and trees.
The Magpie River, near Sept-les, is one of the last remaining wild rivers in Quebec. (Radio-Canada)

Environmentalists and conservationists applauded the moves, but Pier-Olivier Boudreault, a biologist for the Socit pour la nature et les parcs (SNAP Qubec) counts them as only a partial victory.

Boudreault is especially disappointed that the government opted not to protect the Magpie River, which flows south from the Labrador Plateau and empties into the St. Lawrence River east of Sept-les.

He said the efforts to designate the river for special protection date back at least 10 years, conservationists recently presented a petition to the government featuring 11,596 signatures.

The Magpie is one of the last remaining wild rivers in the province to not have special protected status.

"This isn't over. We're going to continue to work. And 17 per cent is only a partial milestone. The target will be 25 per cent in 2025 and 30 per cent in 2030," Boudreault said.

On the plus side, Quebec has become the second province in the country to meet its land protection targets (British Columbia being the first to do so.)

The Chic-Chocs mountain range near Matane is where a 200 square kilometre conservation area has just been created. (Courtesy of Louis Fradette)

In the Lower St. Lawrence region, a portion of the Chic-Chocmountain range in the back country near Matane has also been deemed a protected area. It is roughly 200 square kilometres, although local activists had been pushing for an area twice that size.

"It's half of what we asked for, but it's more than the territory initially proposed by the Conseil rgional des lus," said Louis Fradette, a spokesperson for the Conseil de protection des monts Chic-Chocs.

"We're satisfied, but not entirely. We'll continue to work to protect every mountain that is higher than 800 metres, we still have a few to get to."

The committee has been clamouring for a protected area in the region since 2007.

As Charette indicated, the new designations mean the Chic-Chocs and the other areas will be shielded from mining and forestry companies in perpetuity.

based on a report from Radio-Canada's Brigitte Dub with files from Zo Bellehumeur